Title IX

In my documentary film making class we are currently making social commentaries.  I decided to do mine on gendered sports and the impact of gender norms on the athletic world.  So of course Title IX is a topic that has come up and is a vital part of my documentary.  However I was unaware that Title IX included all that it did.  I didn't know that the wording of Title IX applied to bathrooms, although that makes sense once you see the exact wording of the amendment.

Some argue that Title IX was a problem for school's that couldn't afford to give female athletic as much money as men's so they had to cut men's programs.  However I find this argument to be entitled because if there wasn't this law school's could give all of their athletic budget to only men's programs.  I think there are men who are very hesitant to give up anything to give women equality.  I often meet people who say they are all for equality as long as that doesn't mean bringing men down, but if bringing men down is required to create equality doesn't that just prove that the discrepancy was too large in the first place?

I was surprised to see that people used Title IX in rape cases.  And the cases we looked at were all men using Title IX to defend themselves against accusations.  This is very intriguing to me because Title Ix is often looked at as an act that is for women.

Title IX was a very important event that forced schools to give women what they needed to perform their best and be able to compete at the same level as everyone else.  For anyone to think that Title IX had negative effects that were big enough to complain and want it revoked about is an opinion of someone who has had the privilege of being on the highly supported men's teams their whole life.  I think it's important to appreciate how huge of a step this was and how it is acts and events like this that help push us closer to the equality women deserve.